This invention relates to a computer system for supporting a website on the Internet or on an intranet.
Normally, a website consists of a number of pages, linked together by means of hyperlinks, allowing a user to navigate around from one page to another. However, a problem with this is that, when pages are created or updated, it is very difficult to ensure that all the necessary links are correctly updated in a consistent manner. For example, if a file is moved to a different location, all links to the file must be changed so that they now point to the new location. The object of the present invention is to provide a way of overcoming or alleviating this problem.
Websites are frequently used to provide information and services to employees of an organisation, to enable them to carry out their jobs more effectively. However, if a website is large, and contains a large amount of information not relevant to a particular employee""s job, it can be difficult for the employee to locate the information he or she requires. An object of a preferred form of the present invention is to provide a way of overcoming or alleviating this problem.
According to the invention a computer system for supporting a website comprises:
(a) a navigation object table defining a plurality of navigation objects representing a navigational structure for navigating around the website; and
(b) an object handler for using said navigation table dynamically to construct menus allowing a user to navigate through said navigational structure.
As will be shown, the invention enables the structure of the website to be modified, simply by altering the contents of the navigation object table, without having to alter links in the website pages.
In a preferred form of the invention, the system also includes an access control table indicating which users may access which navigation objects, and wherein the object handler uses this access control table to tailor the menus for particular users.